Ask Ken Kozminski why people should come to The Buck Burgers & Brew in downtown St. Joseph, and he’ll tell you it’s the food, the food, and the food. Kozminski is the owner of The Buck and he’s proud of how his establishment has carved a niche in the local restaurant scene by staying true to some core principles including making most of their menu items in-house from individual ingredients, not pre-made.
“We make just about everything from scratch, and we source our ingredients as locally as possible,” said Kozminski. We serve nearly 50,000 pounds of hamburger a year. Every bit of that is sourced locally. We grind it fresh in-house and we know what is in it”. “It’s a blend of prime cuts of aged meat and that’s what makes the difference for people looking for a quality burger.”
The Buck restaurant resides in an historic downtown building constructed in the 1800s. The building has been a pool hall, a confectionary store, a gift shop, and then the Silver Dollar Café for 50 years. Since becoming The Buck in 2012, the team at The Buck have worked hard to ensure character exudes from the exposed brick walls and ornate furnishings throughout.
Occupying two floors, restaurant-goers can enjoy the social traffic of the main floor bar seating area or enjoy an intimate gathering with friends in the upstairs space. Kozminski is proud of the atmosphere he and the team have created and enjoy seeing repeat local customers.
“Once people get a taste of what we make, they keep coming back because they know they’re going to get quality and consistency. Besides our fresh-ground burgers, another example is the perch we serve. We only serve Great Lakes perch. If we can’t get perch from Lake Superior, we don’t put it on the menu. Our goal is to always provide the freshest ingredients, meals made from scratch, and everything sourced as local as possible.”
It’s not just the food that keeps people coming in. Kozminski said it’s the comfortable atmosphere and the benefits people accumulate as a frequent customer.
“We offer beautiful rewards to our locals with the VIP Local cards. All you have to do is ask and you get a free card, and you earn points just like any loyalty program. It’s all electronic so you just hand it to your server, and you accumulate points for rewards. In your birthday month, you get a reward. If you visit a certain number of times, you get a reward. We have loyal customers who’ve had the cards for years and now they have points worth thousands of dollars. They often use them to buy gift cards, which is a great way to shop for friends and family during the holidays. I highly recommend you come in and ask your server for a VIP card.”
Admitting some local people avoid the downtown area during the summer months due to the high volume of tourist traffic, Kozminski understands and said now is a great time to return.
“I invite you to come in. We want people to come spend time at The Buck, check us out. If you haven’t been here during happy hour now that parking’s readily available, come check out our comfort food menu, our drink specials, visit with our local employees who would love to see you, and make it a date night.”
“Make an afternoon of it. Come here for lunch and then go shopping. Or put in your shopping and then enjoy a great date-night dinner at The Buck. We’re open daily at 11:30 AM and on Mondays, too. Only closed on Tuesdays. The team will be happy to see you for lunch or dinner and you’ll be glad you stopped by.”
The Buck Burgers & Brew is at 412 State St, St. Joseph, EatAtTheBuck.com, or call (269) 281-0320
By Ken Lundberg, Moody on the Market Contributor
